Alternative Thinking

Results

• Funding for vehicles, construction equipment, personal loans, and homes
• Employment of over 7,000 local people to facilitate customer service and trust
• Over 1.2 million customers served

We believe that the fastest and most sustainable way to raise living standards is through individual empowerment. We built our business model to address a critically underserved population, designing a viable plan for entry into an area largely ignored by formal financial institutions. We’re working hard to expand credit access to low-income customers in rural and semi-urban India, and our customer base is ever-widening. Today, Mahindra Finance is India’s largest rural non-banking financial company (NBFC).

Results

• India’s best-selling UV for four consecutive years
• No. 1 in TNS India Total Customer Satisfaction Study, SUV/MUV segment

A marketing executive noticed that the people who bought our Bolero utility vehicle (UV) each valued a different strength—a trader driving long distances to distribute goods prized its value for money. A doctor working in rural areas valued its ruggedness. And an industrialist who traveled smooth roads until the last rough mile to his factory emphasized the Bolero’s drivability on all kinds of terrain. We took these insights back to our R&D team and created Bolero variants to emphasize each of its strengths. By shifting the understanding of what people value in a UV, we’ve created a vehicle that meets more people’s original need—and exceeds their expectations in other areas.

Results

• AE50 Outstanding Innovation Award from the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, 2007
• The Shaan is the subject of a Harvard Business Review case study on innovation

Conceptualized from the ground up, the Shaan has revolutionized tractor technology and marketing in India. It began when an observant Mahindra employee noted that Indian farmers are increasingly managing one crop per year and looking for supplementary income. He also saw farmers using tractors for transport and for hauling items such as construction materials and vegetables off the farm. Our Farm Equipment business put together a creative team to design and produce a multi-utility tractor in direct response to usage on the ground.  With a built-in trolley, the Shaan is ready-made for both farming and hauling. At the same time, we set about changing the way tractors are perceived, redefining them as a lifestyle product, and engaging the youth who were increasingly leaving agriculture.